Men's Track & Field

Barton’s Ghee sets PR in hammer throw during final track qualifying meet of season

Freshman Chianti Ghee competes in the hammer throw during the Mount Olive Final Qualifier on Sunday at University of Mount Olive. | Photo by Benny Benton

May 13, 2018

by Benny Benton

MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – There were no new NCAA provisional marks set or school records broken on Sunday by Barton College during the last track meet of the regular season, but freshman Chianti Ghee did claim a personal record in the hammer throw during the Mount Olive Final Qualifier.

Sophomore Avery Smith added a season-best toss in the shot put, and junior Larry Russell posted his best high jump mark of the outdoor campaign in the event at University of Mount Olive.

Ghee, a resident of Fayetteville, completed a toss of 46.51 meters, or 152 feet, 7 inches, in the hammer, nearly a meter longer than his previous collegiate best of 45.56 meters.

Smith produced a season-best mark of 11.58 meters in the shot put, and Russell added a season-best jump of 1.91 meters in the high jump.

Also competing in the event were men's team members Micah Clemons and Evan Lee, and women's team member Jasmine Watson.

Hoping to improve his NCAA provisional mark in the hammer, Clemons completed the second-best toss of his career, 57 meters flat, but the throw was still more than a half-meter short of his first-place effort at the Conference Carolinas Championship, 57.64 meters.

Clemons will likely finish inside the national top 30 in the event, but just outside the cutoff to qualify for the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships in Charlotte later this month.

However, Russell is expected to make another trip to nationals in the long jump. As of late Sunday evening, the Sicklerville, N.J., resident ranked 16th on the national performance list in that event. Russell was an indoor All-American in the long jump this year, placing fifth in the national meet.

The NCAA will announce the championship field for the outdoor national meet by 6 p.m. on Tuesday.